


One Brisk Morning

by The_Anemoia



Category: Legacy of Kain
Genre: F/M, Possible Future Chapters, imagine prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 21:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5717275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Anemoia/pseuds/The_Anemoia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the years and generations the residents of Uschtenheim have come to fear the vampires with their insatiable bloodlust and have now begun to develop and follow the ways of the Sarafan for protection and guidance but what happens when a young villager ventures outside the safety of their borders and comes face to face with an ancient?</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Brisk Morning

It was a peaceful morning. The sun was not yet close to the horizon. Only a few people were out and about, doing they’re early everyday chores and routine- excluding patrolling Sarafan. Mountains loomed over the village of Uschtenheim. Having been there for hundreds- possibly thousands of years, it gave this area a very extravagant and exhilarating feeling- a feeling like no other.

Though I was never one for routine, my family didn’t mind it, so long as I didn’t leave the village without notice... though most of the time I would go outside anyway. If I were to tell them, they would stop me in my tracks so then what was the point, really?

No matter how much they’ve tried speaking to me, I’ve always ignored them when it came to leaving the village- youthful defiance and all that. Sometimes they knew I wouldn’t be at a friend’s house so they would wait for me to come home. I still recall the last time, my father standing outside the door with his arms crossed. Though I knew what was to come, I didn’t fear it. When his hand tightly snatched my wrist and he pulled me into the house, I knew his hand would backlash me across my cold wind-burned face and it would hurt too yet for some reason I felt no regrets. He would yell at me as I stare blankly up at him and even though our eyes met, inside we weren’t connecting.

Later into the following night as I was getting ready to leave for the morning sunrise, I could overhear my parents in the room next to me. Curiosity getting the best of me, I followed up towards my bedroom wall where I could hear them easily. 

“What if that… monster… gets her?” The falling apart voice belonged to my mother, a twinge of fear mixed into the tone.

“It shouldn’t if it knows what’s good for itself.” My father spat, his heavy footsteps obviously heard moving about the wooden flooring. “All its’ ‘friends’ are spread throughout the valley, it should understand that it will end up like the rest of them should it venture close. Till we know how to get up there, that winged beast should keep its’ distance.” A heavy scoff followed. 

Since then, I never quite understood what they were talking about. I’ve lived in the village all my life and so far I’ve been enjoying the sense of freedom I would get every time I snuck out. The only sort of monster I’ve ever known was the one my father said that was inside all of us. Sometimes they try to come out of people- even if it’s those we know and love. Other times, there are the people who are consumed by it and forced to be disciplined, usually with death. It’s up to us and our willpower to keep these monsters at bay. 

With my small canvases stowed in my satchel along with my pieces of charcoal, I turned and headed out of the bedroom. Constantly looking over to my parents closed door, I cautiously made my way down the steps careful to not step where the boards creaked under pressure. Downstairs, I could see my little sister lying in front of the fireplace on the rug, reminding me of the dog we use to have. She always used to lie with it in front of the fireplace, sometimes curling up together. We’re all not sure what really happened to the dog. Last year on a night like this he ran off out the door. My mother had told us not to worry, saying that dogs were pretty smart on knowing where they lived and how to come back. After a couple weeks passed by, we came to the conclusion that he wasn’t coming back. My little sister was devastated and to say the least, sometimes I don’t think she’s given up on him yet.

With a weak smile, I looked to the front door and stopped. How many times had I gone out the front? Blinking, I turned and decided to use the back door instead. There was only one reason why I risked going outside the village and that was to escape for some actual fresh air. A village is only so big for so long until you start getting older, then you need to start travelling and expand the world you know.

 

The winter morning was a little brisk, especially when I left the confines of Uschtenheim and was no longer protected by buildings from the open wind. I wrapped my scarf tighter around my face, narrowing my eyes as I braved over a few hills. Just a little longer and then the wind would die down and I would be able to draw. The one thing I would always look forward to. The calmness, the serenity… it all managed to take my breath away and keep me at peace with my life. ‘What if… that monster… gets her?...’ I was always weary of wild animals and that sort of thing but for some odd reason, my mother’s voice echoed in the back of my mind. Was she talking about the one inside all of us? There is no such thing as real monsters…right?

Growing up, I’ve heard stories from other children about monsters and even winged beasts that drink the blood of the living but that was all nothing but rubbish. Sure, it scared me the hell out of me at the time but now that I looked back on it, those stories were told by twelve year olds and listened to by seven year olds.

A fresh thin blanket of snow had just fallen across the open land, covering up where I sat the last time, though it didn’t hinder it entirely thanks to the dying circle of grass from the constant sitting down in that spot. Getting down on my knees, I set my satchel down and opened it up; riffling through to take out my first small blank canvas and a fresh piece of charcoal I snatched earlier from the fireplace back home. There’s nothing better than drawing in a peaceful environment where nothing can disturb you.

Not quite sure why but every time I would come to this spot, I always drew the same thing that constantly faced me and yet, I had no complaints about it, no follow up of bordem. Blending in with the gigantic mountains was what appeared to be an aerie of ruins. Built in, the only thing that really stood out was the large ornate pillars along the sides of a huge balcony. Looking long abandoned, it sent an odd sensation through me. It was breathtaking and beautiful. I guess I also longed to know what lay passed that balcony within the aerie. Was there anything else or just rubble?

 

An hour or so passed by of drawing and I had a few sketches roughly drawn out but they were still recognizable of what I was observing from such a great distance. To avoid becoming victim of the cold, I shoved my fists into my armpits, giving my fingers a few minutes to warm up again. After that, I continued on, this time enhancing the details and shadows of the sketches. The sun was reaching the horizon now so my eyes didn’t have to strain as much at the canvas anymore. Sighing, I brought my head back up for what seemed to be the thousandth time but rather than hold my gaze, I looked back down to my canvas, only realizing that I missed something that was new in front of me-however small. Brows furrowed, I lifted my chin and looked back up, my eyes catching but a figure… on the ledge?

No matter how many times I blinked, the figure wouldn’t disappear, and despite how far away I still was, my body leaned forward over my canvas. It looked human… a human who maybe suffered heavily from the cold. Blue? Or was it a trick of the eyes? The distance was too great to make out any details whether I was squinting or not. I could feel my mouth making out the words to the question I was thinking in my head: What… is that?

Though I had no colours to help me in describing it better on my canvas, I still took the opportunity to attempt to draw it out with my charcoal. Quickly, I would glance down at my paper, more so focused keeping my eyes on the figure. If it could leave as fast as it came, than I would be compromising this moment, having it only end up as a faded memory rather than actual proof.

When I finished, the overwhelming feeling immediately left me and a calm sense washed over. Like winning a race, I felt the pumps of adrenaline already drifting away. I looked back up to see the figure gone from sight. I wiped my eyes with my hands roughly before exchanging glances back and forth between the bare ledge and my drawing. My drawing of the figure was still on the canvas so I couldn’t have just imagined that. Wings… I found myself drawn to the image, unable to look away. Fingers numb, I rolled them into my palms and shoved them once again back to my armpits all the while staring at the figure now sketched down on my paper. What really was that?

A cold chill ran through me from the wind that picked up, having my body shuddering for a brief second or two before relaxing again. As this happened, the canvas blew off to the side and left my lap. The paper was dirty and stained but I still treasured it as any sort of canvas, so long as I could draw and make out an image on it. A gasp left my lips as my eyes shot wide, coldness instantly greeting the moistness of them. “No!”

Eagerly, I shot up on my feet and jumped into a run after it, ditching all else I had with me behind. My first attempt failed miserably, having almost tripped over my own footing as I reached for it which was clearly far from my fingers to begin with. The thin snow wasn’t very helpful either, becoming a slippery ground for my feet. Come back! If anything were to happen to that paper, then I’m not sure what I’d do. Just when I had finished it and was so compelled to stare at it, the wind rips it from my eyes grasp. It just wasn’t fair!

Running around a large boulder that jutted out from the ground, I slid as I came up to a ledge. With a gasp, I caught myself, throwing my arms around the boulder, ignoring its jagged edges that scratched and pressed hard against me, so long as it saved my life. Holding my breath until I realized I was safe and could step back, I lowered my gaze to the valley below. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the sight set out before me.

Bodies… everywhere...

I lifted a hand to my opened mouth as I stared at them all. Frozen and propped up on poles, impaled and some decayed, they littered the valley. What the hell is all this? Cautiously, I looked around to see if I was ‘alone’ and saw no one else. There must be… hundreds of them… Everywhere, these definitions of macabre were spread out in different directions, some appearing to still look in vain as if they were just freshly impaled while others looked like they had given up on life. My stomach churned and yet I didn’t gag. I wanted to turn away but my body refused to do so.

Slowly but surely, my dad’s voice came to mind and it was like I was hearing the exact same words he had spoken to my mother earlier this morning. He couldn’t have had a part in this… To kill a person like this is just inhumane and yet the Sarafan I thought I knew that protected us had their banners scattered about. Never have I seen anything more corrupt and wrong in all my life. Is this why I was told to never leave the village?

“Well, well well… What have we here?”

My body couldn’t have tensed any more than it had already from the previous chill. I turned around to look behind me, seeing what appeared to be two shady men. One had scraggly thin brown hair peeping out from his woolen hat with restless eyes while the other seemed to be a little healthier but not by much, clothes dirty and loose fitting. They stood a few meters away, the wind blowing their scent across to me which gave way they weren’t anyone of high standards.

“Don’t you know how dangerous it is to be out here?” The hat wearing thug that stood closer to me looked to the distance. “And being so close to the vampire’s dwelling?”

Clearly, this man was delirious from the get-go. I slowly inched one foot backwards, hoping it wasn’t obvious to the two of them. “Vampire?” I repeated, forcing my tone to sound more serious rather than confused or worried.

“The bodies down there?” he replied questioningly, raising what is barely perceived as an eyebrow. A small scar ran over his forehead from one side to the other. It was thin but still noticeable, its pinkish hue brighter than his filth covered skin. “Those are his friends ya’ know. Other vampires…” He stepped closer, using his hands to help explain, which only made me inch back again. “…Beings who drink the blood of humans, mercilessly kidnapping and slaughtering us like we do with cattle.”

His friend slowly began to move closer as well, though more so following behind. Lifting a fingerless gloved hand, he dragged it across his neck and stuck his tongue out. Normally, I would have smiled at that, but seeing as I was completely alone with these two in such an area… I was more so nervous.

The edge! My conscience quickly shouted. Inching back more, I couldn’t help but take my eyes off the two men and quickly look over my shoulder to see how much room I had left. Bad mistake, for when I looked back, the first man had advanced and was already inches away. I shouted in surprise and brought a hand up, only to have him snatch it with a cold hard grip. “Let go!” I leaned back and tried to rip myself free.

“Trust us. What we’ll do to you won’t be as bad as what that Janos Audron would do!” The man grunted, attempting to use his free hand to grab my other wrist. It was obvious in his face that he hadn’t expected me to fight back so strongly.

“I said let me go! I don't have any money!” I brought my foot up into the man’s groin as hard as I could and pushed my hands against his chest to shove him back.

His grip on me was gone after that but before I could get a clearing of the scene, his friend came up alongside and pushed against my shoulder, sending me stumbling off to the side and hitting the large boulder with my back. He then went to assist his fallen comrade, kneeling down to try and help him recover to his feet.

Nothing was broken but my back certainly ached, an edge of the boulder having angrily greeted my left shoulder blade upon impact. The light sheet of snow on the ground touched the side of my face, immediately waking me up while it melted in the process. Rising and getting onto my knees I used my hands to push myself up groaning as I could already feel my back beginning to bruise, then again, it was either ignore the pain and be given a chance to survive or succumb and be guaranteed I wouldn’t see another sunrise. The wind had started to pick up, sending in cold chills and snowflakes.

“D-don’t let her get away!” the first male growled in pain, holding himself as he tried to get up. One hand quickly waved his friend off before returning to his crotch.

Following the direction of the hand, the friend glanced over looking like he had completely forgotten about me. Reaching behind into his back pocket, he hastily pulled out a small dirty knife. He held it out to the side and jumped at me, his hand snatching the scarf around my neck. With a hard yank, I was jerked back, landing against the man’s chest. An arm wrapped over, pinning my arms to my sides and keeping me close with my back against him.

“Get off me!” I screamed, eagerly trying to find a weak spot like I had done with the first man but seeing as I wasn’t so fortunate this time. Just being this close to him made me sick. I held my breath as he pressed the cold blade’s edge against the side of my throat. If at any given time, he could drag it across and that would be the end of me.

The other male slowly started to regain his composure, back on his feet and slowly making his way to the two of us. “Damn…” he tiredly huffed, the air cool enough to show his clouds of breath. The woolen hat was tilted off center, his head having struck the ground earlier, revealing more of his uncared for hair. The closer he came, the more I wanted to move, but the knife easily reminded me of what would happen if I did so.

Our eyes met for a brief moment before his dropped down and came back up. Filth… “Not so tough are you now?” Reaching up to my face, he grabbed one of my cheeks, his roughly worked fingers pinching hard before he lowered his hand mockingly. A rush of warmth came to my face where he pinched, both soothing against the elements but painful nonetheless. He looked over to his friend. “Let’s see how much she’s got on her. I’m freezing out here.” Removing my scarf, I could feel the coolness immediately greet me. Though I wasn’t nude, I had already begun to feel so. Was I really getting mugged?

Just as he padded down my pockets and was about to start on my jacket, he stopped and lifted his gaze above me and his friend to something else it seemed. His eyes widened and his lips parted in shock. “Oh my God…” he breathed now stepping backwards before deciding to turn away and sprint.

“What is it?” The friend asked, confused. Looking over his shoulder, leaving space between the knife’s blade and my throat, it was just enough to take advantage. Slipping an arm free, I pushed the knife away and elbowed his chest. He yelled out and shoved me away from him.

To avoid hurting myself anymore, I turned and curled my arms in, rolling rather than just impacting against the hard ground. What I didn’t realize was how hard I was actually pushed, rolling faster than I thought and heading towards the edge of the hill. When I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse, I then threw my arms out, hands scratching at anything to get a hold of. Catching onto a rock the size of a head that stuck just out of the edge, I could feel my whole world suddenly spin. My body was thrown over the edge to one side before dangling back the other way. Aside from the dizzy vision, my fingers fought to keep ahold of the rock. It wasn’t really a cliff but more of a steep hill that led down into the valley.

I could still hear the two men running off panting fairly loud which followed eventually by shouts and screams. Apart of me didn’t want to believe it, convinced that just in this dire moment, my mind was becoming disillusioned, but why had they run off the way that they did? Sucking in a breath, I attempted to pull myself up, only to lower myself back down a second later when I felt my arms wanting to give way, shaking heavily. The longer I’m here, the weaker my arms will get… It was now or never.

Groaning, I mustered all the strength I had left and began to lift myself up. Before I could lift a leg up onto the edge, the rock suddenly pulled out from the ground. Dirt flew out from beneath it and I found myself falling backwards. I shouted out as I tried to reach for the edge, having it shrink behind my hand as gravity pulled me down.

For a brief time it felt like I was floating. Unscathed by anything as my dark hair blew in front of my face from the rushing wind. Until I finally struck the steep hill, that’s when everything came rushing back to me. My thoughts along with the pain and the coldness all seemed to come at once as I tumbled and flipped in every direction like a rag doll, unable to stop. First I would see a purplish-grey colour, and then I would see green powdered with white speckles. The blurry streaks that rushed passed my line of vision now and then were becoming obvious as the impaled victims. Turning my head, I was met by a dark greyish colour before blackness took over. After that, any pain or discomfort I was feeling like the cold had disappeared. It had taken me awhile to realize that I wasn’t dead but nor was I awake.

I must have hit a rock…

Once in a while, I would feel myself come to, eyes slowly opening and then closing again. Though my vision was blurry as I slipped in and out of consciousness, there was one thing I remembered in particular. At one point, there was the panting sound of wings, heavy ones. A large bird? They got louder as if whatever they belonged to was approaching me. Lying on my back, I looked up to the sky for a brief moment to see it was still grey and that the snow was still falling-blurry circles of white descending. My eyelids closed on me as I felt myself drifting unconscious again. 

When I woke up again, I could see a figure. Too unclear to comprehend who it was, I knew they were looking down on me. One of the Sarafan maybe? They had to have been wearing armor, for their shoulders were too broad and went out to a point, giving an unnatural look. Clearly, this figure wasn’t wearing a helmet nor did it look like they had a weapon with them. 

“…?”

The figure talking to me was male but my ears refused to pick up the distinct words, only the tone. However distorted, it was still soothing to hear. If only my head wasn’t pounding would I be able to think and speak properly along with understanding my visitor as well. Somehow, I managed to bring a hand up above me, reaching towards him before something cold and hard greeted my fingers. Claws?- No, a metallic glove? It definitely didn’t feel quite normal the way they grabbed but to feel at least something seemed remotely calming.

The last thing I remembered prior to blacking out was my hand being lowered down over my stomach before arms scooped underneath me, lifting me off the cold hard ground of this one brisk morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally intended to be an Imagine prompt for a Janos Audron x OC(Reader) fanfic but depending on available time then future chapters may be made. Hope you enjoy! Thank you


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